An Assignment and a Letter, or Lack Thereof
by Science and Food
Summary: Missing moment. After a Hogsmeade trip her fifth year, Hermione Granger is trying to write a letter, but Ginny Weasley simply won't let her. H/G, R/Hr, and Hr/G friendship.


**A/N: Quick oneshot/missing moment from the 5th book. Just thought it had to be written. Enjoy! And no, I do not own Harry Potter.**

"Hey, Hermione." Hermione sighed.

"Yes?" she said glancing up from her letter.

Ginny rested her head on the book she was supposed to be reading for class tomorrow. Currently the two girls were both lying side by side on their stomach's on Hermione's bed in the empty girls dormitory; neither Lavender nor Parvati had returned from their dates in Hogsmeade.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Do you need help with your work?" she asked, sounding more excited about this than any normal person should. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"No this is about something else."

"Oh," Hermione said, turning back to her letter. "Well, go ahead."

"Hey, Hermione…." Hermione sighed and looked back up again.

"What, Ginny?"

"How's Victor Krum?" Ginny asked with a sly smile. Hermione glared at her.

"You said you were reading for class tomorrow!"

"I lied," Ginny said easily, sly smile lighting up her pretty features. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"He's doing just fine, and now if you don't mind I'd like to finish my letter in peace. And let me remind you your homework is due _tomorrow morning."_

"I know! You're worse than my mum! I'm getting to it, alright?" Minutes passed by. Hermione continued to write (if you could call it that- every word on the page looked like the art of perfect calligraphy), while Ginny alternated between admiring said handwriting and staring into the face of her brother's best friend.

"Hey. Hermione?" Ginny finally said.

"Yes?" Hermione said impatiently pushing her bushy hair out of her face to glare sideways at her friend. It fell back petulantly over her eyes, which made Ginny giggle.

"How's Victor?"

"URGH!"

Hermione shot up, hoisting herself on her elbows before landing on her feet beside the bed.

"Get out of my room!"

Ginny laughed pushing orange locks out of her face but making no move to get up off the bed.

"I'm kidding, Hermione, calm down." Hermione shot her another glare, but grudgingly sat down leaning against the headboard, her pajama-clad legs stretched out in front of her.

"We're just friends, alright?" Ginny shot her an incredulous look.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really."

"Then why are you writing to him with that smile on your face?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, remind me next summer not to write you any letters, particularly with any content that could be remotely amusing so that when others see me they don't assume I'm in love with you."

Ginny rolled onto her back in the little space left on the bed, and put her hands out in front of her, staring at the milky white skin illuminated by the last rays of sunshine from the window and the glowing lantern beside the bed. She smiled.

"Oh fine. So, who's the lucky guy then? The one who," she glanced slyly at her friend from the corner of her eye, "holds your affections?" she said prissily, with an exaggerated sigh to boot. Despite herself, Hermione blushed. She hugged her knees into her chest before responding.

"Nobody."

"Oh, come on Hermione." Ginny said, restlessly pushing off the bed to sit against the headboard beside her friend. "You know what my mum always says," she said, adopting a practical tone. "Serenity now, insanity later.'"

When Hermione looked at her like she was off her rocker, Ginny continued in the same serious tone, "You know…never keep something bottled up inside you. It'll seem alright for a while when you don't say anything about it, but then you'll completely blow up later! BOOM!" she said, throwing her hands out and miming an explosion.

"And in your case, he'll do something and you'll be so mad he didn't notice how much you like him that you'll probably end up jumping him and snogging him senseless when he tells you…I don't know, that he likes house elves or something. And he'll think you insane later…see? The only to avoid this is by talking about it."

"And besides, you _know _I won't tell anyone." Hermione knew it too- Ginny was a lot of things, but a snitch wasn't one of them. Hermione stared at her knees, without answering. Seconds passed.

"Oh, fine, be that way….You like Ron, don't you?"

"WHAT?" Hermione shriekd, jumping off the bed so fast that she somehow ended up slamming her head against the headboard. "OW…and WHAT?"

Ginny laughed, but asked, "Are you alright, Mione?"

"Yes, I'm fine, but honestly Ginny, where did you come up with something so ridiculous?"

"Oh come on Hermione, I've seen the way you look at him." Hermione's face by this time had surpassed pink and had gone to tomato red, which was not the most flattering color, on anyone, really. "And you bicker all the time, and your reaction just now."

"No, I don't. I do not have a crush on your brother."

Ginny grinned. "You're in denial then."

"No! I'm not."

"The point of denial is not admitting, you know."

"Argh!" Hermione grabbed her hair in frustration while Ginny laughed.

"Fine, so you don't like Ron."

"Thanks," Hermione said, avoiding Ginny's eye.

"So…you like Harry?"

"What?" Hermione asked glancing up quickly. Ginny's tone had been so casual, and yet Hermione knew that despite her nonchalance it had taken a lot out of Ginny to ask that particular question.

"No, of course not." She said quickly.

"Are you sure?" Ginny said, still smiling, although there was tightness around her smile, as if she was afraid of the answer. Hermione sighed.

"_Yes, _Ginny, I'm _positive. _He's like…he's like a brother to me."

"Like Ron is to you?" She said, now with a more genuine smile. Hermione waved her hand.

"No, not like that. See the thing is, you have to understand that you've grown up with _six _siblings, while I'm an only child- it's just been me and my parents for my whole life. And Harry's …well, Harry. It's sort of natural that we'd form a sibling bond because we've never had that kind of relationship. But with Ron, it's different. Ron has that sort of bond with six different people, and he already has you for a sister…it'd be strange for us to have the same kind of relationship that you and him have, or the same kind of relationship that I've formed with Harry. Does that make sense?" It was Ginny's turn to sigh.

"God, you are so smart Hermione," she said. And although she should have heard the same compliment a million times, Hermione beamed at her.

"Thanks, Gin. Okay, now that we've established that I don't like Harry, Victor, _or, _and_ especially not, _Ron, can I get back to my letter now?"

"Oh, fine," Ginny said grabbing her book. Hermione lay down once again to finish writing her letter, under the assumption that their conversation was over.

But of course, it wasn't.

Five minutes hadn't passed by, before Ginny started again.

"Hey, Hermione."

"Ginny, what now?" she replied impatiently without glancing up from her book. Sometimes Ginny and Ron could be so alike.

"…Nevermind." Hermione didn't bother to respond.

"Hey, Hermione."

Silence.

"Hermione, do you think Harry sees me as a little sister, then?"

"Of course he doesn't." She replied easily, still staring at her letter.

"How do you know?"

"Why do you care what Harry sees you as, anyway?" Hermione retaliated suddenly, turning to face her friend. "Aren't you happy with Michael?"

"Oh no, I am! No I didn't mean it like that…I'm totally over Harry Potter, Hermione."

"Uh huh." Under her breath she murmured, "serenity now, insanity later."

"I hate you. No, I really am, I just wanted to know if he saw me as a little sister."

"Well alright, I told you he doesn't."

"How do you _know?"_

"I just do." Ginny did not look satisfied with this answer.

"On a somewhat related note, we talked about you in Hogsmeade today."

"WHAT?" It was Ginny's turn to shriek. "Spill, now!"

"Okay, so it sort of came up that you and Michael were going out, so Ron naturally asked if you still had a…thing for Harry, so I said 'No, she got over him ages ago.' And then Harry said 'So that's why she talks now?' So that definitely means he's noticing you in a new light!"

"Oh." Ginny said, already looking crestfallen. "Did you guys say anything else?"

Hermione hesitated for only a fraction of a second before adding, "Well, he did say he was glad he was finally getting to know you better." She crossed her fingers under her leg as she said this, but Ginny didn't notice. Instead her face lit up.

"He did?" She asked, beaming at Hermione. Her smile lit up her face, her honey-colored eyes crinkled at the corners, and her teeth flashed white and blinding in the dim light of the girl's dorm. It was moments like those that Hermione noted with the slightest bit of envy how pretty her younger friend was. _And she has her brother's smile. _A part of her chimed in, a part that Hermione did not have the patience to deal with at that moment.

Smiling weakly back, she said, "Yeah." _Or at least, I'm sure he thought it. Oh, I shouldn't be feeling guilty, Harry has the communication skills of a twelve year old anyway. And besides Ginny's grown so pretty, any guy would be crazy not to notice her._

Shaking her head, she added, "And that was it really. Now, can you please get to work?"

"Oh fine," Ginny said, although she had a certain love-sick smile on her face that Hermione was only too used to, although she hadn't seen it since Ginny had begun going out with Michael. Hermione knew there was no way Ginny was getting any work done that night.

And, when an image of Ron's smile crept unbidden into Hermione's mind, she knew she wouldn't be getting anything done for the night.

**A/N: That's a wrap! May or may not make it a series of missing moments/ oneshots (more around Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione than Ginny and Hermione's friendship...but I wanted to explore a friendship we knew existed but see very little of in the books)**

**SO...thoughts? Comments? Do drop a review!**

**Until then...cheers =)**

**Love~**

**Science and food**


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